March Sanity; Trojans State-Bound!

The N.C.A.A. tournament has its March Madness.  All manner of upset and crazy can and have occurred as college teams vie to be National Champion.  For instance, a 16-seed can beat a 1-seed for the first time ever, as happened the first Friday of the tourney, when U.M.B.C. (that’s University of Maryland-Baltimore County) shocked the world and especially Virginia.  Just a day later, on the local high school level, a 1-seed took on a 2-seed in the Section 1A title game.  Madness didn’t describe the outcome.  For all intents and purposes, sanity did, though in a stunning way.  Rushford-Peterson (1-seed, 21-7), the most often champion over the past 30 years, the most reasonable pick to do so year-in year-out, again powered to the throne atop the Section.  However (and on St. Patrick’s Day, no less), team green’s match-up with Spring Grove (2-seed, 24-5) resembled that of most N.C.A.A. 1-seed versus 16-seed contests.  It was a domination.  Offensively, the Trojans looked for angles to get the ball to 6’5” senior center Ben Ansell.  They found all the angles, all game long.  Ansell secured position time and again.  Passes were on the mark time and time again.  Ansell finished over and over again. “M.V.P.” niftily tallied a super-efficient career-high 31 points (14-17 FGs, 3-3 FTs).  It marked the first time a Trojan hit for 30-plus since Charlie Krambeer dropped 33 on Fond Du Lac-Ojibwe in the state quarters in 2015.  Defensively, the Trojans paid special attention to Alex Folz, the Lions point guard engine.  By taking him out of the game, they took the Lions out of their game.  SG led 5-4 very early on, before R-P went on a 15-2 run to take control (19-7).  Team green scored on seven of eight possessions with Luke O’Hare, Kobe Lind, and Jake Paulson all splashing home three-pointers.  The lead then hung around ten until late in the first half.  R-P finished the stanza 8-0, as Paulson and Ansell alternated baskets.  R-P was in command at half, up 33-16.  Things only got worse for the Lions after intermission.  Folz, held scoreless in the first half again (RP did so in the team’s regular season meeting too), finally hit a three.  But like underdog U.M.B.C. rolling and big dog Virginia sputtering, the Trojans rolled and SG sputtered.  Only RP is the section’s perennial top dog.  Rolling means rolling.  R-P got to “running time” (mercy rule) late, leading by 35 points.   They were in rhythm, Spring Grove was not, and the final tally was indicative.  R-P won in a rout, 66-30.  It was the most lopsided 1A title game in 14 years (minimum), surpassing Faribault B.A.’s 72-40 win over Fillmore Central in 2009.   Good passing means good shots and thus good shooting.  It was all good for the Trojans, who hit on 26 of 39 field goals (66.7%), including four of five threes (80%).  And to think, R-P started the game 1 of 6 from the field; they hit 25 of their final 33 shots (75.8%).  They had 18 assists, nailed 11 of 15 second half shots, and 10 of 13 total free throws (76.9%).  The shooting splendor was basically par with the St. Charles win, where R-P shot 59.1% (FGs), 75% (threes), and 92.9% (FTs).  Ansell reaped the whirlwind on the stat sheet, but the other guys handled and fed him the ball.  Junior guard Landon Skalet had his best all-around game of the year (7 pts, 7 rebs, 9 assists, 5 stls).  Paulson also was solid all-around (11 pts, 4 rebs, 3 assists, 5 stls).  Dawson Dahl added 8 (pts) and 5 (rebs) while O’Hare had 5 (pts) and 4 (rebs) off the bench.  Meanwhile, SG struggled mightily, going 13 of 45 from the field (28.9%) including 3 of 21 from distance (14.3%).  Focused, R-P’s defense was, well, R-P’s defense.  Folz had a nightmare night (3 pts, 1-8 threes, 1-10 FGS, 5 stls).  Ethan Matzke, a 6’5” junior forward, was the only Lion in double figures (12 points).  Wade Grinde’s bunch played with effort, but they didn’t even have a good spurt.  SG’s best scoring run was 5-0.  It came with the score 48-23.  The Lions were held 18 points below their previous season low (48).  SG, on a 15-game winning streak, came in in averaging 68.1 points per contest.  And thus, after a two-year draught that included last year’s double OT loss to Goodhue in the Section title game, Tom Vix’s Trojans are heading back to state.  The last time they were there, they won the 2015 Class A state title.  For Coach Vix, it is only fitting that his last season (purportedly) on the sideline in Rushford ends up in the Twin Cities.  It is his 16th trip to state as head boys basketball coach for Rushford or Rushford-Peterson.  “Woo!”  He is now the Ric Flair of going to state (the “Nature Boy” was generally credited as a 16-time World Champion).